The Coen Brothers’ follow-up to their masterpiece Blood Simple was a stark departure from their more serious first effort, but just as stylized. It’s also a ton of fun, thanks in no small part to the goofy lead performance by a young Nicolas Cage. Released in 1987, it was one of Cage’s first big lead roles, and remains one of the few silly comedies he’s been in (that is, one of the only intentionally absurd movies). It showcases just how good Cage can be in comedy, because of his level of commitment to a character, but also it seems as though he plays these comedic roles in a much more quiet and understated way than some of the role he has become known for. We saw this more recently in an appearance alongside Andy Samberg on Saturday Night Live, in which Cage sat right next to a guy impersonating him and didn’t blink.
We see this straight acting on display in Raising Arizona, with Cage earnestly portraying a hapless criminal named Hi who kidnaps a quintuplet baby so he and his wife can have a proper family. The beauty of Cage’s performance is his belief in Hi’s commitment and love for his wife, Ed. This is the type of movie that relies completely on the cast really grasping the tone of the film. For it to work comedically, they have to seem deadly serious about everything they do. It was one of the first hints we got that Nicolas Cage could take a seemingly ridiculous person and make him somebody real, and sympathetic. A lot of other actors have tried and failed at this.
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